One Man Band System

While Eric was up on the third floor, Ruby sat on the sofa while the six girls sat across from her with their backs to the television and arms crossed over their chests. They weren’t being hostile, but they definitely had their guard all the way up. Ruby just kept her head down, wringing her hands and staring at the coffee table as if it were the single rarest item in the world holding her fascination.

The atmosphere grew thick, awkward, and quiet enough that you could hear a pin drop. Ruby stole a glance at the six girls and saw their eyes fixed on her, so she quickly looked back down at the table. Finally, her trembling lips parted.

"Um... I’m sorry," Ruby said quietly, keeping her eyes glued to the coffee table.

Hearing her words, Emma, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, Priya, and Laura instantly exchanged looks. Their faces were filled with confusion and obvious question marks before all six turned back to look at Ruby.

"Sorry to who?" Chloe asked, bewildered.

Hearing Chloe’s question, Ruby froze and didn’t raise her head. She gripped her hands tightly until her knuckles turned white, but in the end, she lifted her chin to look at the six confused girls in front of her.

"I’m sorry for getting mad at you guys back then... I tried to ruin things for you by bringing that guy to meet you... and I deliberately followed you to see Eric so you guys would get into a fight with him... I’m sorry for all of that," Ruby said out loud.

"Oh... that... okay," the six of them said, looking back and forth at each other. They seemed totally breezy, as if they barely even remembered the incidents Ruby was bringing up, mostly because none of it had actually panned out the way Ruby had planned.

Watching their reaction, Ruby took in their relaxed expressions as the girls went back to chatting casually among themselves.

"Um... you guys aren’t mad?" Ruby asked.

The six turned back to Ruby, and this time they really looked at her, soft smiles breaking across their faces.

"Nah, we’re good," Emma answered casually.

"Yep... no need to overthink it," Priya added.

"But... back in the classroom," Ruby replied, still confused.

"Back then, we just didn’t know you yet. Simple as that," Monica said airily.

"Yep, exactly. At the time, all we heard was that you hurt Eric, plus you were being pushy when we ran into each other at the festival to talk to him... we were annoyed back then too," Chloe said, giving a light shrug.

"But after we found out what you’re actually like... we understood your real intentions. There is one thing we weren’t happy about with you, though," Emma said.

"Um... what?" Ruby asked, confused.

"You had no idea what Chad was really like or what kind of crowd he ran with, and you just dove headfirst into his circle without any preparation... that’s why you ended up in that situation back then... get it?" Laura said, pointing a finger toward Ruby.

Ruby went silent and lowered her head again. Laura’s words pierced right through her, forcing her to confront her own stupidity.

"I... I get it," Ruby stammered out.

"Good... then we don’t have any issues," Laura said with a satisfied nod, crossing her arms over her chest again.

Ruby raised her head and suddenly noticed something. Hanging around the necks of all six girls were identical necklaces just like hers. Caught off guard, she instinctively pulled her own necklace out from under her fast-food uniform shirt. Naturally, the six girls spotted Ruby’s necklace right away. They all leaned forward over the coffee table to get a closer look at the necklace in Ruby’s hand.

"Oh... Eric gave you one too?" Priya asked, holding up her own necklace.

"Hmm... so back then there were three left, one for you, one for Jade, and one for Avery," Heidi added, checking out Ruby’s necklace and comparing it to her own.

"Well... at least Eric didn’t give them to anyone outside of us and his family," Monica said.

"True, so no need to worry," Laura said, turning to look at Monica.

"Hey... didn’t he mention once that we’re his family too?" Emma asked.

"Oh, that’s right," Chloe replied.

The six girls started chatting enthusiastically among themselves. Watching them, Ruby immediately felt a little more relaxed, her previously tense shoulders dropping slightly with relief. Even though she still stayed quiet and just watched them, she realized something.

At school, these girls were famous for being cold, rarely talking to anyone outside their circle, especially guys and impossible to approach, looking like a group of arrogant, aloof goddesses. But behind closed doors, they were just like this, no different from her.

A smile began to creep onto Ruby’s face. She realized she didn’t need to come up with sneaky schemes or run calculated plays just to fit into their circle; simply being herself was more than enough. Still, Eric remained her biggest hurdle.

She had no idea what was going through his mind when it came to her now. He wasn’t being cold to her, but he wasn’t warm either, it was like he was treating her as just another acquaintance, rather than the family he used to know.

Suddenly, all six of them turned to look at Ruby, making her flinch slightly and freeze as she stared back at them.

"Come on, join us," Emma said, pulling on Ruby’s hand.

"Huh... where?" Ruby asked, startled.

"To hang out upstairs... come on," Chloe urged, pulling Ruby’s other hand.

"Oh... okay," Ruby replied, having no idea what the girls were up to, but she stood up anyway.

In the end, the six of them brought Ruby up to the rooftop to chill out together and show her around the roof of Eric’s grandfather’s building, where they could relax and take in the city view from the edge. Meanwhile, up on the third floor, Eric checked the track he had just uploaded. It had already racked up 912,223 views and 844,992 likes in just the last two hours. As he stared at the numbers on his laptop, sitting back with his arms crossed over his chest,

"Ring,"

His phone suddenly went off. He leaned forward to look at the screen on his desk and saw the caller ID. It was Anthony calling, so he picked it up immediately.

"Hello, Anthony," Eric greeted.

"Eric, you released another new song? Your new track is seriously awesome, I’m listening to it right now... Oh, by the way, Mr. Robert is back, and he wants to meet with you. He said he’ll work around your schedule, so when do you think you’re free?" Anthony asked enthusiastically.

"Finally. I’ll get things organized first, then I’ll let you know as soon as possible, alright?" Eric asked, sharing his enthusiasm.

"Awesome, I’ll update him once I get the word from you... I’m hanging up now, I need to head out of the office for an appointment," Anthony replied.

"Oh... okay, I’ll let you know tomorrow," Eric replied.

"Great, I’ll be waiting," Anthony replied.

After saying goodbye, the call ended. Eric noticed several new messages in his inbox. He browsed through texts asking him to write songs for them, trying to recruit him, or wanting to collaborate, all standard stuff he was used to and usually ignored. But as he scrolled further down, an intriguing message caught his eye:

"Hello... my name is Tania Mercer. I know Emma from the piano competition. Is it possible for me to join The Empress? I can play the piano."

Eric paused. He clearly knew who Tania was, she was competing alongside Emma in the upcoming semifinals after making it through the prelims. He clicked on her account name and checked out her profile. Looking at it, she identified herself as a pianist, and there were several photos of her performing at piano competitions and shows. Eric leaned back in his chair while browsing Tania’s profile, but suddenly,

"Ring,"

Jade’s name popped up on his screen. Eric immediately pressed the button to answer the call.

"Hello," Eric greeted.

"Eric, do you know where Ruby is? She hasn’t come home yet," Jade said in a panic.

"Oh... she’s at my grandfather’s building, don’t worry," Eric replied.

A long silence followed. Eric could hear Jade’s breathing over the phone and could even picture her bewildered face.

"She’s... at your building?" Jade asked, double-checking.

"Yep... she works near here. On her way home, she heard our recording and stepped inside," Eric answered casually.

"Oh right... you released a new track... it’s amazing, seriously gave me goosebumps... wait, that’s not the point. Are you really okay with her being there?" Jade asked.

"No problem at all, why?" Eric asked, totally relaxed and actually confused by Jade’s question.

"Oh... nothing, as long as it’s fine then... I was just worried she might run into trouble like last time... sorry to bother you, I’m still at school. I usually monitor who comes in and out of the house through the cameras... alright then, bye," Jade said.

The call ended, and he turned his attention back to Tania’s profile, which was still open on his phone. He looked at a photo of Tania playing the piano once more when suddenly, "vwooong," a holographic screen materialized right in front of his face. As Eric read the text, his eyes instantly widened:

[Secondary Quest: Create a four-member vocal group with a max age of 18 and compose one track for them to perform. Record and share it to reach 200,000 views and 100,000 likes.]

[Reward: Advanced creative mind skill, choreography mind skill, miniature private jet x1, $1,500,000.00.]

Eric glanced back at Tania’s profile, then looked at her message once more. A smile broke across his lips.